Taz Says Ronda Rousey Taking A Break After Only A Year Is Insulting

In the latest episode of The Taz Show (via Wrestling Inc), Taz said that Ronda Rousey’s decision to take a break from being a full-time competitor from WWE after only a year is insulting to the other female talent in the company. Ronad Rousey previously announced that she was on an “impregnation vacation” with her husband Travis Browne, which followed rumors that she was taking time off to start a family. Here are highlights:

On Rousey taking time off: “I gotta tell ya. It’s a little tough to swallow. Because, look, she’s entitled to do whatever she wants, I understand that. But she’s been in the game for a year, and she’s got pushed to the moon, and skyrocketed because of her credibility and her legitimacy over the years in the MMA game and now is a UFC Hall of Famer and all these other great accolades she has. And she’s earned every one of them, I’m not knocking her for that. But to take a break from the business after a year is a little tough for a lot of the lifers in the game, and people who follow that business and respect the business.”

Taz on why it’s insulting: “It’s insulting to the people that this is their lifestyle. Being a professional wrestler, no matter if you’re in the WWE or anywhere else, is your life. It’s not a job. I never looked at all my years in the ring or even segueing into broadcasting, I never looked at that as a job. I looked at it as a career, but it’s part of my life, it just encompassed my job. It wasn’t a 9 to 5 gig.”

On Rousey getting too much credit for the women’s revolution: “The revolution for women’s wrestling didn’t start with Ronda Rousey. It started way before that… Ronda Rousey definitely helped bring some casual fan awareness because of her star power as an MMA or UFC fighter, I get all that, and I think that’s cool. That was great, but, the women’s revolution for pro wrestling it started way before Ronda Rousey.”

On how WWE helped her: “WWE did just as much for her, if not [more], and the girls she worked with, to get her over, and to give her that platform.”

On her match at Wrestlemania 34: “[Rousey] had two of the best workers in modern history in Triple H and Kurt Angle having her back, and Stephanie [McMahon] with a ton of heat who knows what she’s doing.”